Louisiana oyster farmers can apply for grants designed to expand the use of new harvesting methods.
Louisiana Sea Grant has received $3 million for the program. The money comes from the state Wildlife and Fisheries Department and the Louisiana Coastal Restoration and Protection Program.
For more than a decade, Sea Grant has experimented with growing oysters in floating cages or cages placed on waterbottoms and attached to pylons in a project at Grand Isle. The method allows the cages to be raised and lowered to protect oysters from predators, fouling and the burial effects of disasters like hurricanes.
“Alternative oyster culture was identified as an important adaptation strategy by people in the oyster industry during Louisiana’s Seafood Future workshops and surveys," Thomas Hymel, an extension agent with Sea Grant and the LSU AgCenter, said in a news release. "This grant is in direct response to [an] industry suggestion, offering direct economic development assistance."